Farewell
It’s the last time, when I dare To cradle your image in my mind, To wake a dream by my heart, bare, With exultation, shy and air, To cue your love that's left behind. The years run promptly; their fire Changes the world, and me, and you. For me, you now are attired In dark of vaults o’er them who died, For you -- your friend extinguished too. My dear friend, so sweet and distant, Take farewell from all my heart, As takes a wid in a somber instant, As takes a friend before a prison Will split those dear friends apart. Translated by Yevgeny Bonver
Farewell - context Summary
Composed in Exile
Written in 1830 during Pushkin’s exile in southern Russia, this short lyric frames a final, formal farewell to a beloved friend. The speaker accepts inevitable change—time, death, and separation—and prepares to part with restrained grief. Images of mourning and imminent imprisonment underscore a sense of historical pressure and personal loss. The poem registers private feeling against the poet’s enforced distance from society and close companions.
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